Reading this thread and the remembrances of older fans (I'm 40) truly illustrates everything that is wrong with this franchise - even when things sometimes work out.
Look at the names being mentioned: Gilmour, Belfour, Joseph, Sundin, Roberts, etc. etc.
What do they all have in common?
They were all very good/sometimes great Leafs that were acquired from or signed away from other organizations.
Even today's terrible team: Kessel, Phaneuf, JVR, Bernier, Franson...
The Leafs now and historically (not always - Damphousse, Potvin, Leeman) are terrible at drafting and developing talent.
It borders on being astonishing how poor they are at this vital aspect of team building. It's almost like it's ingrained in the franchise's DNA to discard the draft as a key component. And it's not just the present management group. It dates back decades. The last run of solid drafting the team had was in the 70s: Sittler, McDonald, Turnbull, etc, etc.
The 80s under Ballard are a wash out and hard to compare to another time period - seeing as the organization was so dysfunctional. But from the 90s to the present day this poor drafting has been a common theme.
It's become more pronounced this past decade because the salary cap has eliminated their ability to outspend their mistakes and poor drafting.
But at what point does management say: "Enough, this is where our focus has to be."?